Playing tennis is not an easy proposition for most at the Futures level: the travel, the grind, the long road to the next level. It gets even tougher in India with financial constraints and infrastructural shortcomings.
But for Prithvi Sekhar, these obstacles may seem more extreme. The 26-year-old Chennai tennis player is deaf from birth. But he sees the sport as an opportunity, to prove he is “normal.”
“Tennis made me feel I am equal to others and not less,” he told Scroll.in, after he was crowned champion at the 2019 World Deaf Tennis Championship.
The unseeded Indian won the men’s singles final beating four seeded players in the competition without dropping a set. He also won the men’s doubles bronze with Prashanth Dasharath Harsambhavi.
Prithvi was born with a profound hearing loss but with his parents’ encouragement, he chose to make a career in sport. At the same time, he made sure he did well in academics as well with a BTech and MBA degree.
“Sports really shaped my personal life. It made me mentally tough and helped to face unfavorable situations,” he added.
In Antlaya, against the higher-ranked opponents, his mental make-up was a crucial factor in his win.
“I was so proud of it... I went into the match with good mental preparation and played solid tennis. Beating higher-ranked players gives a lot of self-confidence… this week will give me a boost,” he said.
Prithvi competes in both the open category and the deaf circuit. While he uses a hearing aid when he plays on the regular circuit, he has also honed his skill to rely on his eyes alone. Tennis is a sport where sound technically has no role to play.
This writer watched him at the first Asian Tennis Tour men’s championship in Mumbai, where he had finished as runner-up. There was no indication that his game is in any way held back, with the hearing aid helping him understand line calls. It is the “normal” he speaks about.
At the last World Deaf championship, Prithvi had made the quarter-finals of singles and doubles. At the 2017 Deaflympics, he won the mixed bronze with Jafreen Shaik.
“In 2015, the players [I played against] were good. Even then, I played decently and said to myself ‘I can do better next time and work harder and aim for the medal’. Since the last Deaflympics, I have improved my game by playing more ITF and AITA matches. My international exposure helped to sharpen my game,” he explained.
The Chennai player started competing at the age of 8 and was part of the ITF junior circuit. He started in the deaf category tennis is 2013, finishing fifth at the Deaflympics, and has been the national champion since then. His current ranking All India Tennis Association rank is 27 and will break into the Top 5 of the world deaf rankings by virtue of his gold.
Prithvi trains under Sureshkumar Sonachalam in Chennai and plays regularly on the International Tennis Federation circuit, having to go through qualifying because of his rank, which is below a 1000. But even the small wins count for a lot.
“In ITF, I have reached the main draw twice and even scored an ATP point. It proved that I can do well and perform my best in the tournaments. I felt that ITF has good quality players to get experience and play more matches in order to perform better,” he said of the rigorous Futures circuit.
A lot of credit for this positive mindset goes to his parents. “My family motivated me to take up a sport. I was a natural sports lover and picked tennis as it is an individual game and I was good at it from the start. I felt group game was not an ideal choice,” he said.
It was not an easy initiation but soon playing tennis became a life lesson along with a sport.
“I have overcome the initial difficulties and loss of confidence with hard work and focus. I had to keep motivating myself that I can do it. No one has told me that I need to change because of hearing... It’s just that I am a normal person which I am proving, I am performing and winning tournaments,” he said.
Earlier this year, Dukhee Lee became the first deaf player to win an ATP main draw match. The South Korean, who is both hearing and speech impaired and can’t hear anything in matches, is one of Prithvi’s inspirations along with Novak Djokovic. “This tour made me realise that reaching the top is tough and needs full focus and belief. On tour, my coaches’ Suresh Kumar and Balaji support me a lot.”
But as hard as on-court performance is, tennis off-court is tough and expensive sport as well. Prithvi hopes his win can help him with some sponsorship. He currently only has an association with Octo for apparel; and racquet brand Head.
“At present, I am not receiving any financial support from any sponsors. I have to depend on my parents for my travel and all other expenses. If it comes this will help a lot, as I am balancing both Normal Category and Deaf category,” he added.